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Cavendish Review: Improve care training for better outcomes

11th July 2013

The Cavendish Review has made a number of key recommendations regarding improving the standard of training for healthcare staff in the UK, as well as proposing key structural reforms that could benefit both patients and workers in the future.

Carried out in the wake of the Francis Inquiry into the failings of Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, the independent report has highlighted a number of serious failings with the current system of care.

It states the introduction of a new Certificate of Fundamental Care should be introduced that would be useful in linking the training of healthcare assistants and nursing staff, while a Higher Certificate of Fundamental Care would create a clear progression for talented social carers to progress.

Furthermore, the report noted the Nursing and Midwifery Council should make caring experience a necessary prerequisite for anyone wishing to study for a degree in nursing, while reducing the number of job titles - currently standing at more than 60 - for care providers would create better clarity for patients.

Report author Camilla Cavendish commented: "There are more care assistants than nurses working in England. Many of us will rely on them at some point in our lives, in particular in old age, and we need them to be as good as they can possibly be."

Indeed, Health Education England and Skills for Health Care have also been targeted by the report, with recommendations for the pair to work more closely on the development of a rigorous system of quality assurance for all healthcare workers, focusing on training and qualifications with links to funding outcomes in order to make the sector more cost-efficient.

Finally, the review argued the legal process for challenging the poor performance of care providers must be addressed so that employers can more effectively identify and remove unsatisfactory staff from the profession.

"There must be ... a greater focus on ensuring that support staff are treated with the seriousness they deserve - for some of them are the most caring of all," Ms Cavendish concluded.